Keith Margolus didn't plan for this. He had always wanted to be a teacher, but he figured he would be a college professor. But years before becoming principal of Royle Elementary, Margolus had a career-changing experience.
As a senior at Plattsburg State University, he interned as an aide to a fifth-grade social studies class. Once he started working with younger kids, he never went back to adults.
"Kids come in with very few preconceived notions. Margolus said. "And they're open-minded to be inspired by a new idea if they do have preconceptions. That's just a beautiful opportunity" for a teacher.
After seven years of teaching fifth grade at Ox Ridge Elementary, Margolus found the perfect spot. Four years ago, he took the job as assistant principal, and he's come to enjoy the balance of working with teachers and students. "I get to learn alongside kids, and I get to learn alongside adults as well," he said.
Margolus comes from a long line of teachers. His grandfather helped start the music program at the public schools in his hometown of Carmel, N.Y. His mother taught first grade there for 37 years. His uncle was a shop teacher for decades. His sister and brother-in-laws are teachers as well.
And he married into the profession: His wife is a special education instructor for grades K-1 in Westchester County, N.Y. Together they are raising 3-year-old Ella and 9-month-old-Autumn in Danbury.
Whether it's in his own kids or his new charges at Royle, Margolus enjoys kids' sense of wonder.
"I love the excitement, the spark that comes in a child's eye when they're inspired by a new idea," he said. "To be alongside a student, to be a part of that, and to coach that conversation along there are very few things that are better than that."
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